Love, Lipstick and Lies (24 page)

I am one of the directors of the company, along with Cath Hart, a keen horsewoman with a solid background in retail. After thirty years’ experience in the business, she certainly knows her stuff when it comes to sourcing our products and what will sell. We sell online and have stands at some of the biggest horse shows in the country, where we always do a roaring trade. I regularly go along to do signings there and to meet the fans, and it’s brilliant to see everyone enjoying the products. I get great satisfaction from seeing all the KP Equestrian carrier bags as I walk round a show. There are always more KP bags than any other brand. At the Olympia Horse Show we are upstairs, which can be death for some stalls because it’s thought to be quieter, but we
drive business upstairs and are always packed, which is why the organisers don’t want us to move downstairs.

The response I get when I go to the signings is very positive. And when I’m not there, the girls who run the store always comment on how much everyone loves the products. There will be people queuing throughout the day to buy something, even if it is only a pair of socks. Though there are some people who will walk by the stand and say to the girls on it, ‘Oh my God! Katie Price. I feel sick! How can you work for her?’ They might think that they are better than me, but I just think they’re rude and bad-mannered and, like I said earlier, it’s their loss!

I want to make my range accessible to everyone, and anyone can buy into it because our items start at £5.99 for two pairs of funky socks with slogans, such as
Dressage Queen
and
Queen of Everything
. At the top end are the divine made-to-measure Italian leather riding boots at £500, in pink, gold, red and silver. We do black, but even those are blinged up with patent heels and diamante straps. They are made by the highly renowned Italian manufacturer De Niro and are stunning. These are the boots that I wear. In fact, I wear all the KP Equestrian products.

Along with wanting to inject sparkle into riding gear, I also wanted to bring out products that were affordable and good quality. Equestrian equipment and clothes can be very expensive. Take my show jackets, for example, which are blinged up with pink trim, lining and
diamante buttons, and retail for £59.99. Show jackets by other companies can cost up to £200, often more, which I think anyone would agree is a lot of money. Plus our products perform really well, they last a long time and wash well. Whenever we send them to be tested in features for various horsey magazines they always come out with top marks, and we get so many people coming to the stand or commenting on the website that they were surprised and pleased by the quality of our products. Something else that I’m extremely proud of is that Cath has made sure all our products come from ethically tested sources, and we only deal with manufacturers who own their own factories.

We have two seasons, spring and autumn, when we bring out new ranges. I have ardent fans who will buy one of everything as soon as it comes out! And once a range has gone, it’s gone, so we can keep everything fresh. We get plenty of orders from customers in Germany, New Zealand and Australia, and I’d love to expand further abroad. The great thing about KP Equestrian is that there are so many products we can bring out. We started with t-shirts and sweatshirts and have branched out from there. And, honestly, not everything is pink. We bring out ranges in blue, white, purple and black. But if an item is black there will be bling on it … and probably a bit of pink somewhere.

Our largest volume of sales still comes from our t-shirts and sweatshirts. I love the cheeky slogans on our t-shirts, such as
Horses are like chocolates, one’s
just not enough.
And the one that says,
Warning! Horses can seriously damage your wealth.
Yep, both of those slogans ring true with me … Apparently other equestrian companies are starting to take note and there are now riding hats with crystal-encrusted bows on them. I’d like to think that KP Equestrian led the way for glamour in riding. Because who says you have to look boring and dowdy to be taken seriously when you’re riding? (Though I would love to know what the horses think of their bright pink rugs …)

My fans have always been so important to me. I know that without their support I wouldn’t be where I am today, and on our KP Equestrian website we have a whole page devoted to the pictures they have sent in of themselves wearing KP Equestrian clothes, posing on their own or with their horses sporting KP Equestrian rugs. I love it!

* * *

I enjoy riding now as much as I did when I first started as a little girl aged seven. Riding has always been my escape and it’s the best stress-reliever I know. When you’re riding, you can’t worry about anything else, you are there in the moment and that is such a good feeling. Relationship worries, anxiety about what the press had written about me, all disappear once I’m in the saddle.

Five years ago I decided I wanted to learn dressage. I bought my first horse and had lessons from one of the country’s leading dressage riders, Andrew Gould.
I loved learning a new skill; it gave me such a buzz. I was really proud of my achievements, and the highlight was when I performed a dressage set at the Horse of the Year Show in 2008. The show is a big event in the horse world and so it was a huge deal that I performed there. It really was like a dream come true.

Unfortunately my taking up dressage and spending more time riding coincided with the breakdown of my first marriage. Pete never understood why I wanted to spend so much time riding, and why I always returned from the stables and my lessons looking so happy and full of energy. But as anyone who loves riding would immediately understand, it takes up a lot of time, is all-consuming … and makes you feel brilliant afterwards. Also, at that time I was feeling under such pressure from the constant filming we did that going riding was the one time I could switch off and have some space away from work. I can remember going off to the stables and feeling miserable and down because Pete and I weren’t getting on, and by the time I’d had a dressage lesson I’d be feeling on top of the world because I had achieved something.

When I moved into my new house with all its surrounding land in 2011, I was able to keep my horses there. I still can’t quite believe how lucky I am to be able to look out of my kitchen window and see them in the field. All I have to do is pull on my KP Equestrian riding boots and get out there!

I was also keen to take up a new riding challenge
and recently decided to learn show jumping. I haven’t done it for years, but I love it! Show jumping is scary but exhilarating. A real test of courage for rider and horse. You have to remain completely calm as you’re approaching a jump and not transmit your nerves to the horse. They are sensitive to a rider’s mood, and if the rider is afraid then the horse is going to be as well and will more than likely refuse to make the jump. I have cleared some big jumps, but it’s all about the proper technique. You have to be able to control your horse around every part of the course. I took part in a show and got a clear round, which I was proud of. I’ve been teaching myself mainly, and working with one of my grooms, and I’ve also had some training from Guy Williams, the international show jumper.

I was really getting into show jumping and making good progress when I became pregnant. My doctor told me it was perfectly safe to continue riding for as long as it felt comfortable to do so, but I suffer from sciatica when I’m pregnant and my back kills me! So I can’t do as much as I would like now.

The great thing is that Kieran completely understands my love of riding and fully supports me. He has started riding himself and is surprisingly good – none of us can believe how quickly he has progressed. Princess and Junior have got their own ponies and they both love riding, though Junior is more confident than Princess and able to do more. He goes off riding across the fields with Kieran or else canters round my sand school.
Harvey has also ridden at school. A while ago he had his own mount, but back then he never wanted to ride and so I sold the pony. Now he keeps asking when he can go riding! So I’ll let him ride one of the more docile ponies, though of course I will be leading him. It’s wonderful that my family share my passion for riding.

I’ve never been one of those celebrities who puts their name to a product without knowing anything about it and then walks away with a nice fat fee and never gives it another thought. That’s not the way I work. I’ll only put my name behind a product or a new business project if I’m one hundred per cent involved at every stage. It has to be something I am passionate about and I have to know something about it. If I don’t, I do my research and find out exactly how it works.

The beauty business has long been one of my passions. Even before I was a model I was interested in beauty products and techniques. As a businesswoman, I have brought out a wide range of products, from eyelashes, to hair products, to perfume. I think I must be a frustrated
beautician because I have converted an entire room in my house into a salon where I can practise various beauty techniques on my friends and family. They are the Pricey guinea pigs! I’ve got drawers full of fake lashes, nail products and varnishes, fake tan and waxes. It’s a girlie paradise. Maybe one day I’ll open my own salon, but for now I want to learn as much as I can about the beauty business. And with that in mind, I’ve taken a number of courses in various beauty treatments and processes. I’ve got qualifications and everything! I’m not just a TV personality, author, model (not so much now admittedly, but never say never. I’m still itching to get my kit off for some smoking glamour shots), oh, no. I am also qualified in HD brows. If you thought high-definition only referred to your TV, think again!

HD brows are all about getting the most perfect eyebrow shape possible. So many people spend a fortune on make up and skin care products and yet they ignore their eyebrows, not realising that the brow frames the eyes and face, and that without that frame, well, frankly you’re wasting your money!

I’ve always had a thing about having well-defined eyebrows. From the age of fifteen I started tinting my eyebrows and eyelashes jet black. It drove my mum mad, especially when I combined the black brows with red lipstick and black lip liner and my obsession with wearing catsuits … but there you go, I’ve always had my own unique style.

I’ve been on two HD-brow training courses at Milton
Keynes. Nilan Patel is the brains behind the HD brow and is the ‘Eyebrow Queen’. She’s worked in the States as personal brow-shaper to a number of Hollywood A-listers so I went to the very best place.

I love learning new things and had a great time in Nilan’s class. It was like going back to school and I enjoyed mixing with the other students and bantering with them. No one made a big deal of me being there, which I liked. I paid far more attention to that class than I ever did at school, I promise you, and I needed to as it’s not just about plucking. The full HD treatment is forty-five minutes, and involves an in-depth consultation, a patch test, tinting, plucking, trimming, waxing and threading. If you have thin eyebrows, with HD brows I can be your eyebrow fairy godmother and give you the gift of fuller, better-shaped brows! Though, as with everything, practice makes perfect and I haven’t practised for a while now, so I would probably need a refresher course before I was let loose on anyone again.

Along with brows, I’m also qualified to do eyelash extensions – or, to give it its proper title … drum roll, please … I am a qualified Eyelash Artiste! A while ago I brought out my own range of fake lashes, and I’d like to bring another range out as soon as I’ve got some new ideas.

I’m also a qualified nail technician. I admit, I am obsessed with having perfect nails. I can go out of the house without a scrap of make up but I
must
have perfect nails. Maybe I’m a bit OCD about them, because
when I went on
I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!
the second time I didn’t use insect repellent because I’d heard that it stripped off your nail polish. I might have stunk to high heaven when I walked off the show, and my six and a half grand hair extensions were ruined, but my nails had survived everything the jungle had thrown at me. I’d like to say that now I’m qualified I do my own nails, but I don’t. Sure, I can paint them but, again, I haven’t had time or enough friends and family to practise my acrylic nail skills on. One of the episodes of my reality series showed me trying them out on Leo – so he was good for something then … only joking!

I want to bring out my own range of nail products and the equipment you need to use with Gelish or acrylic nails, and make them affordable for younger women to buy. Plus I want to bring out my own range of nail varnishes.

I’ve also completed and passed a spray-tan course with Crazy Angel. I am Katie Price, licensed to spray and the proud owner of one massive spray gun, one smaller one, and a range of different tans. I’ve given spray tans to all my friends and family and I’m pretty nifty at it. But in the process I’ve managed to wreck my white carpet … even while using the special spray-tan tent. Grrrr. Now I’ve done the course I want to bring out my own line of fake-tan products. And you can trust me: along with my new tanning expertise, I’ve been using fake tan long enough to know what works.

But that’s not all. My next plan is to do a couple more
courses in facials and then in massage – though I know the massage course will be challenging as you need to learn about all the different muscle groups – as I want to bring out a skin-care range. That’s the beautiful thing about the beauty industry: there are so many products you can create!

So, as you can see, beauty is definitely my thing. My other passion is fragrance. I’ve already brought out three perfumes, Besotted, Stunning and Precious Love, and in July 2013 there’s a new one out. It’s called Kissable and appropriately I’m launching it on National Kissing Day. I absolutely love the scent! Love it! I ran out of all the testers the manufacturers sent me and had to keep asking them for more. To find the one I wanted I had to test out over forty scents. After each sample I had to take a quick sniff of coffee beans to refresh my olfactory sense – clear my nose – otherwise I’d overload on perfume. I took ages narrowing down my choice, and in the end Kissable was a mix of the two scents I loved the most.